Issue 11-13-2017

NEW YORK — Food retailers are adding home delivery and store-pickup services in an effort to address the needs of a small but possibly growing contingent of consumers who want the convenience of shopping for groceries online. Jewel-Osco was set to launch a delivery service in Chicago earlier this month, allowing residents of much of

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (WBA) has promoted Richard Ashworth to president of operations at Walgreens, a newly created position, the company announced last month. Ashworth has been with the company more than 25 years, most recently serving as president of pharmacy and retail operations. Now, with the promotion, Ashworth takes on additional

WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation (NRF) said it welcomed the tax reform legislation that was introduced in Congress and called on legislators to get the measure to President Trump as soon as possible. “President Trump wants to sign tax reform into law by Christmas, and we think that would be the perfect present for

NEW YORK — U.S. retailers can expect operating income and sales to grow between 3.5% and 4.5% in 2018, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Meanwhile, solid economic fundamentals suggest healthy holiday sales growth of between 3% and 4% this year, Moody’s said at the end of last month in releasing its retail sector outlook for

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Rite Aid Corp. and BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. were the biggest gainers among food, drug and mass retailers in Forrester’s U.S. 2017 Customer Experience Index (CX Index). The index, based on a survey of some 120,000 U.S. online adult consumers, measures and ranks more than 300 U.S. brands across 21 industries. Of

BOSTON — A new report from global e-commerce analytics firm Profitero reveals that Amazon may be the current online price leader, but that lead could be slipping as Walmart ramps up its efforts to be price competitive. The study, “Price Wars: A Study of Online Price Competitiveness,” states that Amazon’s prices are typically 11% lower

SHELTON, Conn. — Walmart is the leading venue for sales of household products, according to research by TABS Analytics. Walmart accounts for 16.4% of sales in the $75 billion household products market, TABS revealed in a recent webinar. That compares to 14.9% for food retailers, 9.5% for dollar stores, 9.3% for home improvement stores. E-commerce

CINCINNATI — Kroger Co. executive vice president of merchandising Mike Donnelly has assumed responsibility for both operations and merchandising as executive vice president and chief operating officer. The move comes as Fred Morganthall, who has been serving as Kroger’s executive vice president of retail operations, is set to retire, effective November 30. Donnelly will become

NEW YORK — As the holiday shopping season gets under way, the latest forecasts suggest that consumer spending will be up this year. But retailers are taking no chances, offering special deals and free shipping to get customers to shop their stores or websites. Walmart announced this month that it is expanding its product assortment

Retail jobs are changing, and the arrival of robot “workers” in stores will only accelerate that evolutionary shift. Walmart recently acknowledged that it is testing the use of robots that can move down the aisles of its stores, scanning shelves for out-of-stock items, missing shelf tags or other problems. The robots are said to be

The holiday selling season has arrived, and it promises to be a memorable one for several reasons. A decade after the financial crisis that triggered the Great Recession, the U.S. economy has finally stabilized, with low unemployment and strong growth. Those conditions have led retail industry watchers to predict solid sales increases over the next